Game Breaking – The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

Some gamers are always on the lookout for an
advantage. Whether it's a better weapon, a more powerful spell, or a
bottomless bank account, many of us don't mind living on the edges of
what a game will permit. Some will pejoratively refer to this as "power
gaming," since it often involves taking advantage of loopholes or doing
things that seem at odds with how a game is intended to be played. In
Game Breaking, we'll take a look at ways that you can use these tricks
to gain an edge. In this first edition, we'll show you how to make
yourself effectively invincible in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

In Bethesda's sprawling RPG, you'll find many paths to
creating a powerful hero. However, none will result in god-like impunity
like upping your chameleon rating. There are two different
kinds of invisibility in the game: one that allows you to remain totally
undetected but restricting your action (just called "invisibility"),
and one that only partially conceals you while letting you perform any
action (called "chameleon"). Straight-up invisibility is usually much
better, since you are assured stealth. With chameleon, you are only
concealed by a certain percentage, which means that any monster you want
to sneak by will probably see you. However, it's possible to stack
various items enchanted with the chameleon effect to raise your
chameleon percentage to 100%. In essence, this gives you all the
advantages of chameleon – like being able to attack and activated spells
and items – while keeping you undetectable to practically every
creature in the game. Here's how to do it:

Part 1: The Basics
of Sigil StonesWhenever you complete an Oblivion gate, you'll take a
Sigil Stone from the evil tower. Each stone has a pair of magical
effects: one for weapons, and one for armor. The strength of the effect
depends on your level; a Sigil Stone you get at a higher level may have
the same properties (like fire damage/resistance) as a lower level
stone, but the numerical values associated will be better. For this
trick, you'll want Latent, Ascendent, or Transcendent stones, which
means you need to be at least level 9 to start making it happen.
Ideally, you should be at the point in the story where you have access
to plenty of Oblivion gates.

Part
2: Load, Grab, RepeatOne of the rare properties you'll find on Sigil Stones
is the chameleon effect. Ultimately, we want a bunch of these...but
since the Sigil Stone attributes are random, how can you be sure you get
what you want? Lots of reloading. When you get to the Sigil Stone at
the top of the tower in any Oblivion gate, save your game. Then, grab
the stone. There'll be a flash of light, and the tower will start to
crumble. As soon as you see the "Sigil Stone added" in the corner of the
screen, open up your inventory (you want to do this pretty quick,
because if you let the tower collapse, you'll have to sit through a load
screen). Check your possessions to see what the properties are on
the Sigil Stone you just grabbed. If one of them doesn't say "Chameleon
[number]% on Self," you need to reload. The stone's magical properties
aren't determined until you pick it up, so you can keep reloading the
same game and get a different stone each time. It can take a long time
and many tries to get the chameleon-powered stone, so you need to be
patient. Once you have it, let the tower collapse and continue your
game. Repeat this process in different Oblivion gates until the
chameleon percentage on all of your Sigil Stones totals 100% or more.
[PageBreak]Part 3: Enchant and WearEach Sigil Stone can be used to enchant one piece of
armor. A single pair of boots with 30% chameleon won't do you much good,
but if you add a helmet, gloves, and chestpiece with the same
properties, you're looking at total concealment. Buy up some mundane
armor –
it doesn't matter what kind, as long as each piece occupies a different
space on your body. Then go to your Sigil Stones and press A. That will
bring up the enchanting screen, where you apply the chameleon property
to the item (and give the newly enchanted piece of armor a name of your
choosing). Repeat the process until each of your chameleon-powered
stones has been fused into a piece of armor. Next, equip each one. You'll notice that, now that your chameleon rating
exceeds 100%, you'll no longer be able to see your character in the
game. Don't worry – they're still there, and ready to raise some hell.

Part
4: Chaos!If you still have any story-related stuff to accomplish,
you'll find it hilariously easy now. Monsters won't be able to find
you, so you can stroll through dungeons as your would-be enemies just
stand there stupidly and let you pass. If you decide that you want to
fight things anyway, you can continuously gain the benefit of sneak
attack damage while crouching, since your enemies won't know where you
are. Beating the game this way cheapens the experience (I didn't explore
this strategy until I had finished the main story). The real payoff
comes when you set foot into a town. Normally, when you run around a
city and punch people in the face, you see this:With a 100% chameleon rating, you don't need to worry
about that anymore. Instead, you can attack, steal, and generally
humiliate anyone you want without fear of repercussion. I don't know
exactly how the AI in Oblivion functions, but it seems to go something
like this: because townspeople can't actually detect you, they aren't
able to identify the source of any attacks you hit them with. They'll
run straight for town guard to "report" the crime, but because no one
can ascertain the identity or location of the perpetrator, you're pretty
much in the clear. So, head to your least favorite town and start
terrorizing people! It's hilarious to see them running around, confused
and on fire, as they try to tattle on you and figure out what's
happening. For a small glimpse of the potential mayhem, check out the
video below to see me harry the helpless chumps of Cheydinhal for a
few minutes.

Do you have any great game-breaking strategies? Email them to me
at joe@gameinformer.com with the
subject "Game Breaking." While there are entire communities dedicated
to cheating and glitching, that's not what Game Breaking is about. It's
about pushing the boundaries of the game while still operating within
the rules – finding and exploiting the loopholes in the system. Most
importantly, it doesn't affect anyone's experience but your own.